The Politics of Listening

"What is it to take seriously in actual political practice the ideal of equality which motivated so many struggles for democracy? It is to take seriously the politics of listening, as Leah Bassel argues in this very cogent and sharp new book. Through nicely balanced case studies, Bassel succeeds in taking the abstract ideal of listening into those moments when people confront those in the media who portray them, or fight to be visible at all, as in the recent migrants crisis. A valuable contribution to the growing literature on voice." (Nick Couldry, London School of Economics and Political Science, Author of Why Voice Matters) "This beautiful and compelling book argues engaged scholarship today requires a mutually reinforcing commitment to both listening and politics. For Leah Bassel, how we listen to people - from First Nation Peoples in Canada to young Muslim women in France - is as important as why we want to hear them. What she offers us is a politics of listening committed to deep forms of dialogue that challenge unequal distributions of voice and power. We have never needed a book like this one more than now." (Les Back, Goldsmiths, University of London, author of The Art of Listening)

The Politics of Listening argues that such a practice has the potential to create new ways of being and acting together, as political equals who are heard on their own terms.

The book will appeal to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology and political theory.

This book explores listening as a social and political practice, in contrast to the more common focus on voice and speaking.  The author draws on cases from Canada, France and the United Kingdom, exploring: minority women and debates over culture and religion; riots and young men in France and England; citizen journalism and the creative use of different media; and solidarity between migrant justice and indigenous activists. Analysis across these diverse settings considers whether and how a politics of listening, which demands that the roles of speakers and listeners change, can be undertaken in adversarial and tense political moments. The Politics of Listening argues that such a practice has the potential to create new ways of being and acting together, as political equals who are heard on their own terms.

The book will appeal to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology and political theory.